Long list of problems, and fixes, follow jet to Cleveland air show

The F-35 fighter has been plagued with problems during development and early testing, but the Pentagon and contractors say it will fly safely and effectively when fully ready for combat.

(U.S. Department of Defense)

WASHINGTON - Northeast Ohioans will glimpse the future of aerial warfare when a military fighter jet, the F-35 Lightning, flies at the Cleveland National Air Show on Labor Day weekend.

They might also get a glimpse at scandal, although the Pentagon and the plane's developer, Lockheed Martin, say the aircraft's troublesome days are behind it.

Amid the excitement of the end-of-summer Cleveland air show are these facts, controversies and claims about the advanced aircraft - facts and claims directly affecting Ohioans beyond the holiday weekend's public relations display.

The F-35 is also called the Joint Strike Fighter, because versions are not only being built for the Air Force, Navy and Marines but also for Great Britain and other allies. The most expensive weapons system ever built, about 500 of the aircraft have been completed so far in the program's 14 years of existence, although they have not yet been tested in combat conditions.

The Pentagon ultimately wants 2,457 of the aircraft, because the F-35 is supposed to replace a number of earlier-era fighter models - and because China and Russia are building their air capabilities.

The program is way over budget

The F-35 program cost is now nearly $400 billion. That's $163 billion more than anticipated, a price so high that, as Newsweek put it, industry wags call it "the plane that ate the Pentagon."

There are different ways to view this number. It unquestionably grew. But at the same time, the number of aircraft actually shrank, says a watchdog group called the Project on Government Oversight, or POGO. The Pentagon originally wanted 2,866 of the aircraft, not 2,457. When accounting for the budget on a per-plane basis, the price has nearly doubled.

The Pentagon and the program's prime contractor, Lockheed Martin, say that costs rose partly because they were developing, modifying and building at the same time. They say they now have a better handle on costs, and Lockheed Martin says the price has not changed in several years.

The F-35 has had problems

The F-35's problems have run deep.

The plane "is plagued by design flaws and cost overruns," concluded an in-depth piece in Vanity Fair in 2013. "It flies only in good weather. The computers that run it lack the software they need for combat. No one can say for certain when the plane will work as advertised."

Business Insider listed key problems that the Pentagon identified in 2014: software delays, the fuel tank design, lightning protection, problems carrying out attacks at certain angles, display issues in the computer-rigged pilot's helmet and reliability issues with ejection seat assemblies, among other things.

The Washington Post last October revealed that the Pentagon found serious problems with the plane's pilot-ejection system - despite warnings that Pentagon brass rejected earlier - that put the pilot's head at risk of snapping forward or backward. Lighter-weight pilots were therefore banned from flying the F-35 until the problems could be fixed.

An F-35 caught fire while taxiing down the runway at Elgin Air Force Base in Florida in June 2014, prompting Foreign Policy magazine to call the aircraft "the Pentagon's $399 billion plane to nowhere."

And more problems

Don't just take the media's word for it. Last April, the Government Accountability Office, which works for Congress, said the F-35's engine reliability "is poor and has a long way to go to meet program goals." Also, "Cost and affordability challenges remain."

The Department of Defense Inspector General found in 2013 that the F-35 program lacked quality-assurance systems to prevent hardware and software problems that could affect the plane's performance and reliability.

And in January this year, the Pentagon's director of operational testing and evaluation told Congress of his concerns about the plane's computer, design and testing program. Essentially, wrote J. Michael Gilmore, the Pentagon's top official for testing, "every aircraft bought to date requires modifications prior to use in combat."

The problems are being addressed

Unforeseen problems pop up when you develop something new, especially an aircraft this technologically advanced, say the F-35's many proponents. The Pentagon acknowledges many issues of the past.

"Hey, you know what the good news is?" Air Force Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan, the executive director for the F-35 program, said at an air and space conference in 2014. He mentioned issues with the helmet, the plane's software, its inability to fly in lightning and the fact that if it had to dump fuel, the whole plane would be sopped. Those "are all past problems," he said. "We have solutions for those."

Bogdan did not deny the problems mentioned by the Pentagon's top tester recently. But he issued a statement saying the critical comments did not "fully address program efforts to resolve" the issues. "Our government and industry team has a proven track record of overcoming technical challenges discovered during developmental and operational testing and fleet operations, and delivering on program commitments," Bogdan said.

As for the GAO report on engine reliability, engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney, a partner with Lockheed Martin, issued a statement citing substantial improvements. "Contrary to the GAO report," the company told cleveland.com, engine reliability "has improved across the board and will continue to improve as more engines are introduced into service."

This is a jobs program, too

It's a well-known and much-practiced strategy: If you want support, spread out the work. Or, as Lockheed Martin says on a website featuring a map of the United States, "See how the F-35 contributes to your state's economy."

In Ohio, there are 44 suppliers, providing 2,623 direct and indirect jobs, Lockheed Martin says. With full production, the job numbers nationwide - currently 133,000 -- could double, the company says. Work on the F-35 is being performed in 44 states and Puerto Rico.

Eaton Corp., whose North American operations are headquartered in Cleveland, is an F-35 subcontractor. Cleveland-based Parker Hannifin is another subcontractor, and described the plane to cleveland.com as a technological marvel with capabilities far beyond those of those of other nations' aircraft.

Ohio-based politicians appear convinced. They not only want those jobs for Ohioans; they also want some of the planes to stick around in Ohio for a lot longer than an air show.

Just last month, Ohio U.S. Sens. Rob Portman and Sherrod Brown, along with Reps. Marcy Kaptur and Bob Latta, wrote to Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James to make their case: Please base an F-35 mission in the Swanton, near Toledo - home of the Ohio Air National Guard's 180th Fighter Wing. The base is within 600 miles of 60 percent of the people living in the United States, making it ideal for homeland security and national missions, they said.